Thoughts on the Emmy noms

Well, that was a depressing morning. The total lack of love for Arrested Development, plus the the acclaim for the overrated House of Cards, and the continuing inexplicable Downton Abbey support. All the movie/miniseries nominations for Top of the Lake was my only saving grace this morning. Let's go through it, piece by piece. 

  • I cannot believe Will Arnett and Jessica Walter were snubbed. I promised to throw a hissy fit if that happened, and I did when I did not see Arnett's name. They should have been locks to WIN, much less be nominated. I'm happy for Jason Bateman, but considering that AD was totally shut out elsewhere, it makes me think they just circled his name out of recognition. SO lame. The biggest disappointment of the day. I mean, how the hell did Jane Lynch make a comeback in Supporting Actress over Jessica Walter?

  • Why on earth do the Emmys love Downton Abbey so much? It's a period soap opera and once again they have showered nods on some very undeserving people. Hugh Bonneville, Jim Carter and Michelle Dockery again? Really? They just stood there this last season, people. Come on. 

  • Amazingly, several of my wildcard wishlist nominations came through- Adam Driver, Tony Hale, and Anna Chlumsky in the comedy supporting categories. Like I said, Driver does stand out on that show, and the Veep cast strengthened its group dynamic this year, so that was a welcome sight.  And Emilia Clarke actually made it in for Game of Thrones (which led the nominations this year with 16!)

  • No Tatiana Maslany, like I figured. Sigh. Hopefully she's going to keep pushing as the show goes on, and maybe she'll get some attention from the Golden Globes to make her case next time. Julianna Margulies being knocked out of Lead Actress in a Drama was surprising though, as I thought she and Claire Danes were the only locks here. Kerry Washington getting in is the first nomination for an African-American woman in this category since Cicely Tyson in 1995, so that's good news, but I think the nods here make it pretty easy for Danes to walk away with it again.

  • Breaking Bad got writing nominations for the first time ever, knocking out Mad Men completely, and collecting directing, and supporting acting nods for Anna Gunn and Jonathan Banks. Even though Game of Thrones and Homeland remain strong contenders, I was right about it being BB's time. The Series win is theirs to lose.

  • It looks like Modern Family will pick up its fourth straight win, with no real competition except for maybe 30 Rock, which had something of a resurgence in nominations for the final season. Despite all the support that Louie has, I still think it'll be hard for that show to win, and Veep looks stronger but still didn't land any writing or directing nods. Girls and The Big Bang Theory remained flat in support with no writing noms, so it looks to me like the alternative for someone who doesn't want Modern Family to win again is probably 30 Rock. 

I'll be making my final winner's predictions in the weeks before the Emmys are handed out on Sep 22nd, so stay tuned.

2013 Emmy Nominations

DRAMA 

Drama Series: 

  • Breaking Bad
  • Downton Abbey 
  • Game of Thrones 
  • Homeland 
  • House of Cards 
  • Mad Men 

 Drama Lead Actor:

  • Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey) 
  • Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad) 
  • Jeff Daniels (The Newsroom) 
  • Jon Hamm (Mad Men) 
  • Damien Lewis (Homeland) 
  • Kevin Spacey (House of Cards) 

Drama Lead Actress:

  • Connie Britton (Nashville) 
  • Claire Danes (Homeland) 
  • Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey) 
  • Vera Farmiga (Bates Motel) 
  • Elisabeth Moss (Mad Men) 
  • Kerry Washington (Scandal) 
  • Robin Wright (House of Cards) 

Drama Supporting Actor: 

  • Jonathan Banks (Breaking Bad) 
  • Bobby Cannavale (Boardwalk Empire) 
  • Jim Carter (Downton Abbey) 
  • Peter Dinklage (Game of Thrones) 
  • Mandy Patinkin (Homeland) 
  • Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) 

Drama Supporting Actress: 

  • Morena Baccarin (Homeland)
  • Christine Baranski (The Good Wife) 
  • Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) 
  • Anna Gunn (Breaking Bad) 
  • Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) 
  • Maggie Smith (Downton Abbey) 

COMEDY 

Comedy Series: 

  • 30 Rock
  • The Big Bang Theory 
  • Girls 
  • Louie
  • Modern Family 
  • Veep 

Comedy Lead Actor: 

  • Alec Baldwin (30 Rock) 
  • Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) 
  • Don Cheadle (House of Lies) 
  • Louis C.K. (Louie) 
  • Matt LeBlanc (Episodes) 
  • Jim Parsons (The Big Bang Theory) 

Comedy Lead Actress: 

  • Laura Dern (Enlightened) 
  • Lena Dunham (Girls) 
  • Edie Falco (Nurse Jackie) 
  • Tina Fey (30 Rock) 
  • Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep) 
  • Amy Poehler (Parks and Recreation) 

Comedy Supporting Actor: 

  • Ty Burrell (Modern Family) 
  • Adam Driver (Girls) 
  • Jesse Tyler Ferguson (Modern Family) 
  • Bill Hader (Saturday Night Live) 
  • Tony Hale (Veep) 
  • Ed O'Neil (Modern Family) 

Comedy Supporting Actress: 

  • Mayim Bialik (The Big Bang Theory) 
  • Julie Bowen (Modern Family) 
  • Anna Chlumsky (Veep) 
  • Jane Krakowski (30 Rock) 
  • Jane Lynch (Glee) 
  • Sofia Vergara (Modern Family) 
  • Merritt Weaver (Nurse Jackie) 

TV MOVIE/MINISERIES 

TV Movie/Miniseries: 

  • American Horror Story: Asylum
  • Behind the Candelabra 
  • The Bible 
  • Phil Spector 
  • Political Animals 
  • Top of the Lake 

TV Movie/Mini Lead Actor: 

  • Benedict Cumberbatch (Parade's End) 
  • Matt Damon (Behind the Candelabra) 
  • Michael Douglas (Behind the Candelabra) 
  • Toby Jones (The Girl) 
  • Al Pacino (Phil Spector) 

 TV Movie/Mini Lead Actress:

  • Jessica Lange (American Horror Story: Asylum) 
  • Laura Linney (The Big C: Hereafter) 
  • Helen Mirren (Phil Spector)
  • Elisabeth Moss (Top of the Lake) 
  • Sigourney Weaver (Political Animals) 

TV Movie/Mini Supporting Actor: 

  • Scott Bakula (Behind the Candelabra) 
  • James Cromwell (American Horror Story: Asylum) 
  • John Benjamin Hickey (The Big C: Hereafter) 
  • Peter Mullan (Top of the Lake) 
  • Zachary Quinto (American Horror Story: Asylum) 

TV Movie/Mini Supporting Actress: 

  • Ellen Burstyn (Political Animals) 
  • Sarah Paulsen (American Horror Story: Asylum) 
  • Charlotte Rampling (Restless) 
  • Imelda Staunton (The Girl) 
  • Alfre Woodard (Steel Magnolias) 

VARIETY 

Variety Series: 

  • The Colbert Report
  • The Daily Show 
  • Jimmy Kimmel Live 
  • Late Night With Jimmy Fallon 
  • Real Time With Bill Maher 
  • Saturday Night Live 

RECAP: The Newsroom 2x01 "First Thing We Do, Let's Kill All the Lawyers"

So, tonight marks the return of Aaron Sorkin's much criticized The Newsroom, as many wondered if he would respond to all the complaints and critiques the show received in its first season. Well, I would say based on the first episode, the answer is...maybe. Somewhat, even. But it's more or less the same show.

To me, that's not such a bad thing- I always thought that while some of the criticism was accurate, a lot of it was overblown. Watching an Aaron Sorkin show, you're always going to be subjected to a certain amount of preachiness, smugness, and speechifying that is clearly Sorkin using characters as mouthpieces for the thoughts that he wants projected onto the world, and that's no different from any writer with a very strong and unique voice, like Quentin Tarantino or even Billy Wilder (not to go back too far). And Sorkin is so talented and holds such an ear for snappy, intellectual dialogue that a lot of times I could just listen to it for hours (I'm such a Sorkin-ite I even watched all of Studio 60). On top of that, I'm also a political junkie with a lot of the same opinions as him, so complaints that this show was like a fictional MSNBC station, kinda didn't bother me at all, although I can understand others thinking it was too much. I mostly found it amusing- and I think the real reason for all the annoyance was the decision to base the storylines on actual political events from the recent past, rather than setting it in a fictional universe, ala The West Wing.

The only things that did bother me about the first season, Sorkin seems to have made some attempt to correct, at least in the premiere. Last season there was a tendency to make most of the female characters into bumbling idiots who were bad at their jobs and needed the men to correct them in their foolish ways- and tonight we get to see News Night producer Mackenzie McHale (Emily Mortimer) in an extended sequence where she fixes an audio and sound problem on the show at the last minute, and pretty much all on her own too, so good for her! We'll get to see in future episodes how poor Maggie fares on the "stupid" front, seeing how she wasn't spotlighted much tonight and was probably the worst victim of that offense all last year. And the romantic triangle between Don, Jim and Maggie last season was handled very clumsily and dragged on for way too long with nothing much happening at all as far as developing it, and so thank god- tonight it looks like it's finally over, as Don swiftly and efficiently breaks up with Maggie at the end of the episode and they agree to move on.

As for what else went on tonight...well, it looks like we're set in August 2011 at the moment, with the fall of Gaddafi in Libya and the beginnings of the Occupy Wall Street movement the current hot topics being approached for news coverage. Jim starts the episode spurned by Maggie and tells Mackenzie he wants to go cover the Romney campaign in New Hampshire, but the Romney peeps are not happy to see him and won't even let him on the bus when he gets there, due to the uproar that has ensued since the finale of last season when our hero Will McAvoy called the Tea Party the "American Taliban" on the air. This has sparked a major backlash from Republicans in Congress, which has Leona Lansing (Jane Fonda, who IS a kickass woman on the show, but come on, how are you going to have her on and make her weak?) and her son Reese upset and blocked from access to congressional lobbying. So Charlie decides he has to ban Will from the 9/11 anniversary coverage, which a chastened Will agrees to, and then proceeds to make himself look tough on terror by taking the pro-drone strikes position in an on-air debate over the controversial foreign policy, upsetting both Mac and Sloan.

Speaking of Sloan, Olivia Munn was the sole woman in the newsroom last season who was allowed to be savvy and smart at work, so it's a little disconcerting that she now seems to be pining and quivering over Don while in the office, but I'll give it some time before attacking that new aspect of her character. Neal (Dev Patel) is already on the bandwagon with Occupy Wall Street, which Mac doubts is even news yet and sends him to a meeting to find out. This gives Aaron Sorkin a chance to make fun of the Occupiers for their hand signs and lack of leaders, as Neal lectures one of them over everything that's wrong with their movement, conveniently before it ever even starts- the one instance in this episode of the "benefit of hindsight" complaint launched at the show last year for characters knowing all kinds of things about news events the second they happened and sometimes even before, which is obviously impossible, and yet for me it was another thing that was kind of just amusing to watch, knowing how ridiculous it was.

The episode starts and ends with what looks to be the framing device of the season- a deposition all of the News Night employees are involved in, where lawyer Marcia Gay Harden is questioning everyone about their coverage of "Operation Genoa," which we don't know much about yet, but is apparently a black ops scandal that has them in trouble with the Department of Defense. And here is where the show would REALLY benefit from being set in a fictional universe. Whatever this scandal is, obviously it's made up- but the show revolves around news stories that actually did take place, so it's going to keep hitting that disconnect, no matter how interesting or intriguing this story may turn out. In fact, a fictional universe with parallel topical plots would fix an awful lot of the criticisms, but that ship has sailed, which is why The Newsroom remains more or less, the same show as last season. But for me, Aaron Sorkin dialogue combined with good actors and politics talk of any kind hits my sweet spot, so even if it's a bit of a guilty pleasure (it's no West Wing) I'm with this thing all the way. Until next week, everyone!

EMMY WATCH: Drama Wishlist- Series

Dream Nominees- Drama Series

  • The Americans
  • Boardwalk Empire
  • Breaking Bad
  • Game of Thrones
  • Justified
  • Mad Men

There are so many quality dramas out there right now, that it's really hard to pick just six. Of my choices, Justified and Boardwalk Empire will probably be snubbed in the actual nominations, but I really thought they had outstanding seasons and deserve to be there. Especially Boardwalk, which is a show that in contrast to its decreasing hype every year, has only gotten better as the seasons have progressed. I know that some feel Mad Men had an off season, but to me that show is still better than almost anything out there, so I wouldn't kick that out either. I did toss last year's winner Homeland out of the mix, and that show will definitely be nominated again. There were some big plausibility issues with the second season, and while I'm never really that hard on spy thrillers in terms of plot stuff (I'm willing to suspend more disbelief than most), there were some really glaring, over the top and wacky moments this year that were just plain ridiculous, and the ever growing screentime of the teenager from hell (fans know who I mean) is like a weight around that show's neck that is just dragging it down into the abyss whenever she shows up, to the point where I started dreading her every moment even before the episodes aired.

The Americans had a really strong debut season and took a different approach to the spy thing than Homeland, eschewing overdramatic plot twists and revelations for a lot of subtlety and internal character drama that I was very surprised by (and the Homeland writers could certainly benefit from watching this show on how to deal with  teenage kid characters- please, I BEG of them to take note). Game of Thrones had its best season yet, although I doubt that show will ever win, because of the fantasy genre it's stuck in, and although Justified's best season remains the second, the fourth was an ambitious mystery arc that introduced more great new characters (something this show excels at) while keeping up with the best dialogue on TV, a quality for which it's highly underrated (it's never even been nominated in writing).

Breaking Bad's half-season last year remained astonishingly suspenseful and well-acted, even if it felt unfinished (how could it not?). I choose that to finally win Series this year because I think it's time, and happily, I think it actually will win too, because the Academy is going to realize that it's now or never for that show. The final 8 episodes are airing in August, it's going to be at the top of everyone's radar, and I truly believe with Homeland's dip in quality last season, there's no more appealing alternative for the voters to go with. Other contenders in Series are House of Cards, Downton Abbey (which will probably still be nominated, but I think it's lightweight compared to these other shows) and The Good Wife. But it's Breaking Bad's for the taking this year, and I think they're going to pull it off.

EMMY WATCH: Drama Wishlist- Lead Actor & Actress

Dream Nominees- Lead Actor

  • Bryan Cranston- Breaking Bad
  • Hugh Dancy- Hannibal
  • Jeff Daniels- The Newsroom
  • Jon Hamm- Mad Men
  • Damian Lewis- Homeland
  • Matthew Rhys- The Americans

This particular wishlist of mine isn't entirely out of the realm of possibility. Of the six, I think only Dancy and Rhys are the longshots, but both were outstanding in the debut seasons of their shows. Hugh Dancy in particular had to play a man whose mental state was deteriorating all season long, and he was entirely believable and never once over the top in his portrayal. I think it was an even more impressive "crazy" performance than his wife, Claire Danes, in her similar situation over on Homeland. And Matthew Rhys played a low key, serious yet sensitive spy husband on The Americans, and he was likeable and effective from the first episode. The rest of the guys are probably all locks to make it in, and they're all terrific and have been for years, so I see no reason to toss them out. Jeff Daniels might not make the cut, but despite the fact that he plays kind of a pompous windbag on The Newsroom, he's really good at it and deserves a nod hopefully on merit and not just name recognition. Kevin Spacey is very likely going to replace one of these guys, probably Dancy or Rhys, and that is based on name/Oscar winning status, etc. He's good on House of Cards, but he's done that kind of performance before. A lot. As for the winner, any one of these guys could win and deserve it, so I just picked Jon Hamm because he's WAY overdue and it would really be a shame for him to never win an Emmy for Don Draper.

Dream Nominees- Lead Actress

  • Claire Danes- Homeland
  • Julianna Margulies- The Good Wife
  • Tatiana Maslany- Orphan Black
  • Elisabeth Moss- Mad Men
  • Keri Russell- The Americans
  • Glenn Close- Damages

I've said this before, but if Tatiana Maslany can possibly get in, she could win because the voters would be forced to watch her play all these clones and she shows off a ton of range that the others don't have. She plays broad comedy, action, drama, and with different accents to boot. But she's still a major, major longshot for a nomination. Glenn Close has always been fantastic and I think she's deserving of another nomination, but nobody remembers Damages and if she makes it in, it's only because she's Glenn Close and her name was on the ballot. Sad, but true. Last year's winner Claire Danes will be back and I'm a little bit iffy on Margulies and Moss being here, but I couldn't think who to replace them with. Elisabeth Moss in particular got a lot less to do than usual on Mad Men this season, but someone like past nominee Michelle Dockery of Downton Abbey is certainly no better than her or Margulies. I would love to see Keri Russell get in, as she was surprisingly good at playing such a cold-hearted spy on The Americans, and is the much less sympathetic figure next to Matthew Rhys, but she pulled it off with nuance and subtlety (despite the outlandish wig situation going on with that show, the performances keep everything grounded in reality). Other contenders include Kerry Washington of Scandal and Robin Wright of House of Cards, but I wasn't too impressed with either of them. It's Tatiana all the way for me, but the likely winner is probably Claire Danes again.

New Summer Shows

Since I can't recap every show on the air, I thought I'd do a couple of mid-season and full season reviews for the new shows airing this summer that I'll be watching. That will include Showtime's Ray Donovan, with Liev Shreiber and Jon Voight, and also FX's The Bridge, which premieres tonight and stars Diane Kruger and Demian Bichir. I'll be watching them and checking in on both at their mid-season point. Here are the trailers, if you're curious:

The Bridge: 

 

Ray Donovan:

EMMY WATCH: Drama Wishlist- Supporting Actor & Actress

Dream Nominees- Supporting Actor

  • Noah Emmerich- The Americans
  • Walton Goggins- Justified
  • Mads Mikkelson- Hannibal
  • Mandy Patinkin- Homeland
  • Aaron Paul- Breaking Bad
  • Corey Stoll- House of Cards

So, for the last few years this category has been the toughest one to break into. There could very easily be a list of ten or more worthy men, and it is HARD to narrow it down to six. An entire alternate list of deserving nominees could and probably will show up here (the only reason I left out perennial nominees like Peter Dinklage and John Slattery is because I don't think they had as much to do on their shows this season). But these are my favorites, and of them I think the ones most likely to score noms will be Aaron Paul and Mandy Patinkin. Paul is fantastic on Breaking Bad, has won the last two years in a row, and will definitely be back. Patinkin has not been nominated for Homeland yet, but I have to assume he was in 7th place or so last year, so I'm guessing he makes it this time. The rest of my guys could all fall out for other people. Walton Goggins was nominated two years ago, but is great as lovable antihero Boyd Crowder on Justified, so good that I think he deserves to win. Stoll gave a heartbreaking performance and was the best character on House of Cards for me (review of that show coming tomorrow), Mikkelson is really a co-lead, but I've already talked about how mesmerizing he is on Hannibal, and I was very happily surprised at what a nuanced, sensitive and rich supporting turn Noah Emmerich gave on The Americans this year. To be honest, any of these guys deserve to win, but I chose Goggins because he's been so good for so long now, and I think he's somewhat overdue, especially counting his years on The Shield.

Dream Nominees- Supporting Actress

  • Joelle Carter- Justified
  • Emilia Clarke- Game of Thrones
  • Anna Gunn- Breaking Bad
  • Rose Byrne- Damages
  • Kiernan Shipka- Mad Men
  • Olivia Munn- The Newsroom

This field is a bit less crowded, and I have again chosen almost all people who will not make the cut. The only guarantee is Anna Gunn (and she's probably also the winner, because she has an AMAZING episode to submit). Joelle Carter had more screentime as Ava this year than I think she ever has, and as the only woman with any real role on Justified, I think she deserves recognition. It's a similar situation with Emilia Clarke, who was given a lot more to do this year than whine about her dragons, but they don't seem to like anyone except for Peter Dinklage on that show. I went for Kiernan Shipka as Sally on Mad Men over Christina Hendricks, because I think she handles the dark, emotional stuff they give her as well as or better than many of the adults, and Joan was kind of short shrift this season anyway. Olivia Munn was the only woman on The Newsroom who was not written as an idiot, and managed to play both comedy and drama surprisingly well, and finally there's Rose Byrne. Yeah, she was on a show called Damages that most people have forgotten existed entirely, much less that it aired its final season last summer. And that's really too bad, because it was a great show, and the only one I can think of that was entirely about two women as they confronted their professional and personal conflicts as well as any of these shows about male antiheroes that are ubiquitous now. Rose Byrne was essentially a co-lead, but she was terrific, and deserves at least much recognition as Glenn Close got in the show's early years. But it won't happen. Expect this category to be filled with people like Maggie Smith again, and more women from The Good Wife and Downton Abbey.